The projections extending off the main strokes of the characters of serif typefaces. Serifs come in two styles: bracketed and unbracketed. Brackets are the supportive curves which connect the serif to the stroke. Unbracketed serifs are attached sharply, and usually at 90 degree angles.

(1) A stroke added to the beginning or the end of one of the main strokes of a letter. In the roman alphabet, serifs are usually reflexive finishing strokes, forming unilateral or bilateral stops. (They are unilateral if they project only to one side of the main stroke, like the serifs at the head of T and the foot of L, and bilateral if they project to both sides, like the serifs at the foot of T and the head of L.) Transitive serifs ― smooth entry or exit strokes ― are the norm in italic. There are many descriptive terms for serifs, especially as they have developed in roman faces. They may be not only unilateral or bilateral, but also long or short, thick or thin, pointed or blunt, abrupt or adnate, horizontal or vertical or oblique, tapered, triangular and so on. In blackletters they are frequently scutulate (diamond shaped), and in some script faces, such as Tekton, the serifs are virtually round. (Not all type historians agree that the word serif should be used in the relation to italic letters. But some term is is necessary to denote the difference between, for example, Bembo italic and Gil Sans italic. The former is described as a serified italic, the latter as unserified).See also a picture of serif styles

A stroke added to the beginning or the end of one of the main strokes of a letter. In the roman alphabet, serifs are usually reflexive finishing strokes, forming unilateral or bilateral stops. (They are unilateral if they project only to one side of the main stroke, like the serifs at the head of T and the foot of L, and bilateral if they project to both sides, like the serifs at the foot of T and the head of L.) Transitive serifs ― smooth entry or exit strokes ― are the norm in italic. There are many descriptive terms for serifs, especially as they have developed in roman faces. They may be not only unilateral or bilateral, but also long or short, thick or thin, pointed or blunt, abrupt or adnate, horizontal or vertical or oblique, tapered, triangular and so on. In blackletters they are frequently scutulate (diamond shaped), and in some script faces, such as Tekton, the serifs are virtually round. (Not all type historians agree that the word serif should be used in the relation to italic letters. But some term is is necessary to denote the difference between, for example, Bembo italic and Gill Sans italic. In this book, the former is described as a serified italic, the latter as unserified.)

In typography, an all-inclusive term for characters that have a line crossing the free end of a stroke. The term serif refers to both that finishing line, and to characters and typefaces that have them.

It is said that the Romans invented the serif as a solution to the technical problem of getting a chisel to cut a neat, clean end to a character. Later, it became an emulation of handwriting, with flat "pens" producing thick and thin curves, based on the angle of the pen.

Serif characters tend to be easier to read, as they provide a horizontal guideline for the eye to "tie" the letters of a word together. It is generally better to use serif faces (rather than sans serif faces) when typesetting long stretches of copy, such as books with few illustrations, since serif faces cause less fatigue of the eyes. According to one study, there is reader preference for, and better legibility of, serif faces. Half-serifs on horizontal arms are sometimes called beaks, and serifs at the end of arcs are called barbs. A character exhibiting a curvature of the transition from the main stroke to the serif is referred to as bracketed. A character in which the angle from the main stroke to the serif is a right angle is described as square serif.

A projection from a major stem of a letter that is usually not part of the essential structure of a letter. Serifs developed from the motion of writing tools as they begin and end pigment flow. In type, they are stylistic variants that help to maintain stroke ends in low-resolution printing or small sizes, and add visual complexity and reinforcement of letter identity.

A serif is the little extra stroke found at the end of main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letterforms. Some are subtle and others may be quite pronounced and obvious. In some cases serifs may aid in the readability of a typeface. Serif refers, in general, to any style of type that has serifs. Fonts without serifs are called sans serif.

Serif is also the name of a company that produces a popular line of desktop publishing software including Serif PagePlus for page layout and Serif DrawPlus for illustration.

In typography, a serif is the little extra stroke found at the end of main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letterforms. Serifs fall into various groups and can be generally described as hairline (hair), square (slab), or wedge and are either bracketed or unbracketed.

Hairline serifs are much thinner than the main strokes. Square or slab serifs are thicker than hairline serifs all the way up heavier weight than the main strokes. Wedge serifs are triangular in shape. Unbracketed serifs attach directly to the strokes of the letterform, sometimes abrubtly or at right angles. Bracketed serifs provide a curved transition between the serif and the main strokes. Within these divisions serifs can be blunt, rounded, tapered, pointed, or some hyrid shape.

A small stroke projecting from the main strokes of a character. Some popular serif typefaces are Times Roman and Century Schoolbook. Serifs can have many different shapes: bracketed (e.g. Times Roman), slab (e.g. Stymie), and hairline serifs (e.g. Bodoni) are are some examples.

The projections extending off the main strokes of the characters of serif typefaces. Serifs come in two styles: bracketed and unbracketed. Brackets are the supportive curves that connect the serif to the stroke, creating a somewhat softer look. Unbracketed serifs are attached sharply and usually at 90-degree angles.

A stroke added to the beginning or end of one of the main strokes of a letter. In the roman alphabet, serifs are usually reflexive finishing strokes, forming unilateral or bilateral stops. (They are unilateral if they project only to one side of the main stroke, like the serifs at the head of T and the foot of L, and bilateral if they project to both sides, like the serifs at the foot of T and the head of L.) Transitive serifs – smooth entry or exit strokes – are usual in italic.There are many descriptive terms for serifs, especially as they have developed in roman faces. They may be not only unilateral or bilateral, but also long or short, thick or thin, pointed or blunt, aprupt or adnate, horizontal or vertical or oblique, taperd, triangular, and so on. In texturas and some frakturs, they are usually scutulate (diamond-shaped), and in some architectural scripts, such as Eaglefeather and Tekton, the serifs are virtually round.

19th-c. word for a small stroke to finish off the stroke of a letter. Seems to have first appeared in carved Greek letters c. 4th c. BC. Among the many kinds are: beak, bracketed, unbracketed, clubbed, cupped, hairline, hook, rolled, slab, tick and wedge.

語義2 definition 2

A serif font is a typeface that has an extra stroke at the end of the vertical and horizontal strokes of the main letter-form. A font that doesn't have this extra stroke is known as sans-serif.

Examples of serif typefaces include Times, Garamond, Goudy and Palatino. It used to be a commonly accepted wisdom that serif fonts were more readable than sans-serf for large blocks of printed body copy. This theory has been questioned in recent times - but the argument still rages amongst designers.